The present invention relates generally to devices for controlling a television receiver and, more particularly, to such a devices as used for channel selection.
In recent years, a number of devices have been developed for use in controlling equipment for receiving television broadcast information such as televisions, videorecorders, cable boxes and satellite receivers. As the receiving equipment has become more complex, and the capability to broadcast an increasing variety of material has grown, the devices for controlling such equipment have become correspondingly more sophisticated.
Often (although not always), such control devices have taken the form of remote control devices useable to control a number of different pieces of equipment available from a number of different manufacturers.
As a result of the increase in available programming, there has been a need to simplify the channel selection process for the television receiver operator. With a relatively large number of channels available, the operator may have to be familiar with the channel location of various networks and individual programs, or in the alternative, may have to scan through a number of channels to find the desired broadcast. Differences between channel number assignments from one locality to the next, or from one cable service provider to the next, further complicate this problem.
Various solutions have been proposed to these problems. For example, it is known to provide a control device in which the operator may program labels for the identification of channels. In one such approach, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,541, the label is simply displayed on the television screen after the operator selects the channel using the conventional channel number. In this way, the operator can assure himself that the correct channel has been chosen.
In addition to a simple display, it is known to provide a control device in which the operator may use the label directly for channel selection lieu of the conventional channel number assigned by the broadcaster, cable provider or governmental regulatory body. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,045,947 and 5,068,734, the user may program labels which he creates or obtains from some other source into memory in association with particular channel numbers. When the labels are subsequently entered into the control device, the television receiver is caused to tune the channel corresponding to the stored label.
Still further, it is known to provide the operator with a scan feature whereby the channels may be stepped through in sequence for channel selection. It is common to provide a control device having the ability to delete inactive or unwanted channels from the scan. As an enhancement to this feature, the above cited U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,045,947 and 5,068,734 disclose control devices in which channels may be placed into a scan in any desired order, or may be placed into one or more of a plurality of scanning sequences which to the operator may associate with programming categories, personal preferences and the like.
Still other control devices have been developed which are directed towards problems encountered in recording television broadcasts using a videorecorder. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,173 discloses a system in which a compressed code may be found in published television program schedules. The code is entered into the device and decoded to provide time, date, channel and duration information concerning the program to be recorded. This data is then used by the device to control the videorecorder to record the desired program.
While such a device is useful in simplifying recording, it still requires an initial set-up operation. Because of the variation in channel numbers from locality to locality at which various networks and stations may be found, the device executes a channel conversion operation to convert a "defined" channel number used in the codes into the actual channel number at which the program may be found. This conversion is based upon an initial configuration entered by the operator that programs into memory the corresponding channel numbers.
Each of these improvements is advantageous in controlling a television receiver. However, each of these features adds further complexity to the task of initially programming the control device prior to use, or of changing the configuration when needed or desired. Additionally, each feature requires a certain amount of programmable memory for the control device. Such memory is often limited in control devices, either as a result of component capability or costs. Thus, either the capacity of, for example, a label memory is limited to a relatively small number of channels, or the number of different features which may be provided in the control device is limited, or both.